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So we had an overnight guest who we never met as they arrived late and left early. They left behind a phone charger which he messaged me about. I posted it off the next day and 3 weeks later it hasn’t arrived. it should have only taken a few days to arrive. He keeps messaging me about it with questions: when did I post it, did I put my address on the back, what type of bag, which post office.
There is not much I can do about it if it has gone missing. At what point do I stop replying to him?
Did you get a tracking number? That is what I have done, charging the guest, of course, in the past. Then it is up to them to deal with the post office if something goes wrong.
Unfortunately I didn’t as I was in a rush to get to work. Nor a receipt to get them to pay which usually I do. usually people don’t worry about chargers as they just buy a replacement one.
Chargers aren’t cheap, so I am not surprised that someone would want it back. ::making note to self:: take the time to get a receipt and tracking number ALWAYS.
The fact that this person continues to be in touch is annoying, to be sure.
Hmmm your assumption chargers are cheap is somewhat erroneous. I recently thought I left an iMac charger somewhere and I nearly died when I saw the replacement cost was over £70. Even a third party like belkin was going to be £50.
If you don’t have a tracking number I’m going to assume you used a cheaper service to post it. And it’s now inevitably lost. You’re going to need to come clean with your guest. Or you can be that host who doesn’t admit what happened and leaves their guest in limbo; you won’t go to hell I suppose but it’s not the nicest way to play the game.
Hello
I presume you told the guest that you put it in the ordinary mail and whether your address was included. In which case you have given them all the information you can.
I would just say to them " i have provided you with all the information I can on this matter. I tried to help you when you left your charger behind. If it hasn’t arrived as yet I can only assume it has got lost in the post.’ And then not reply to future correspondence.
Yes @Helsi I have provided him with all the information.
He was the one who forgot it in the first place and I have posted it to him so to me end of story.
You can pick up a charger for $10 here.
It is not necessarily lost. I recently posted two parcels to the same town. The second one arrived 11 days after the first and took 3 weeks all up.
Then I guess reply to the guest telling them what you know.
Apple/Mac hardware tends to be expensive. One of a number of reasons not to do business with Apple. They do make good hardware, granted. But it’s still overpriced.
Part of the reason their stuff is expensive (aside from the Apple tag) is the safety aspect that needs to go into the charger so it doesn’t overheat/electrocute/fail surge protection. That’s why even official Sony etc can be expensive and why a third party charger from china can be a false economy.
You can lick the charger for the Apple MacBook and you won’t electrocute yourself. And before you say ‘why would I lick it’ you wouldn’t but your child or pet might if you leave it plugged in somewhere.
I see. That’s interesting. But does extra engineering need to be so expensive? That’s a serious question, but I doubt either of us have the answer.
When a guest leaves something and wants it back I tell them to send a pre paid, pre addressed satchel, then they have all the information they need to track the parcel.
same here. chargers you can get a for a fiver.
Its his own fault he left it, you done everything you could. I would of got proof of postage though and also charged him for sending it.
“Hi Guest, I’m sorry to hear that your charger has not yet arrived. I mailed it to the address you provided the very next day. At this point we can only hope that the charger didn’t get “lost” and that it is only taking longer to arrive than expected. Please let me know when it arrives, or I will let you know if it is returned to my address. I do hope it arrives eventually.”
If it is an item that is easily mailed (under $5) I absorb the cost.
If the guest has a large item or wants a tracking number I tell them that I will prepare it for shipping and ask them to arrange the pickup.
I had a guest who told me that his review would depend on how I managed the return of a very large item. Not to be pushed around, I told him that I would have it ready to pick up and recommended Fedex. He never got back to me and eventually I had to tell him that I would only hold it for another week before being donated. Next time I’ll note that from the beginning: “I will hold your item for pickup for 2 weeks”.
Oh, and if it were me I would continue to reply to each email they send, but say the same thing. They will eventually “get it”.
@Robert_Dudley I love your reply. So yes I am getting annoyed and was thinking of replying something along those lines if he keeps contacting me.
Ridiculous reply. @Robert_Dudley you’re so flippant and while I mostly laugh at your replies I get concerned when I see people taking you seriously. We all forget stuff and all this guest needs is an explanation.
@Shanghai all you need to do is inform the guest that you posted the item by unregistered post and that it can take 3-4 weeks to arrive at an international destination. If it doesn’t arrive after 4 weeks, it may unfortunately be lost in the post. Apologies, I can’t give any further information nor can I assist further.
Once the guest knows the type of service you’ve used and timescales for delivery they will also know when there’s a chance it’s lost. And if they contact you again, ignore them.
That’s the end, no need for aggression or rudeness.